“The Reason We Are Here on Earth,” Liahona, Oct. 2022, United States and Canada Section.
The Reason We Are Here on Earth
The peace I sought was in the temple.
Photograph of Logan Utah Temple by Scott Law
Three years ago I asked a sister in my ward to teach me how to find family names that I could take to the temple. I wanted to do for my ancestors what they could not do for themselves. I learned how to use a few simple search programs, and it opened my eyes to the low-hanging fruit on my family tree. All I had to do was pluck it.
I had been moved by what President Russell M. Nelson said, speaking to youth, about gathering Israel on both sides of the veil. It is “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth. …
“… You were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing … more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing.
“This gathering should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to earth.”1
I asked myself the obvious questions: There is nothing more important than gathering Israel? This is why we were sent to earth?
It caused me pause. Am I helping or hindering the work? Every choice I make either helps the Lord gather Israel or it doesn’t.
I believe that what the prophet says to one he says to all. It doesn’t matter to me if he is speaking to children, youth, men, or women—there are applicable lessons for each of us.
When I started looking for my ancestors, the original objectives were to (1) be more obedient and (2) commit to regular temple attendance. Going to the temple once a month was my original goal. But something happened: the more I went, the more I wanted to go.
And then something else happened: I began to change. I began to feel the Spirit more, and conversely I began to notice when His influence was not with me. The difference was startling.
I could also feel the call from my ancestors, and one day it struck me that I was building an army of people who are now literally linked to me, as in “the literal gathering of Israel” (Articles of Faith 1:10).
These are some of my ancestors whose names I wanted to find and perform temple ordinances for, doing for them what they couldn’t do for themselves.
Family photograph courtesy of the author
Endowed with Power in the Temple
President Nelson promised: “Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God.”2
I have actually learned this for myself. My ability to hear the Lord is growing stronger as I regularly attend the temple. I feel closer to Him, I feel more protected, I feel more confident, and I know He is pleased with my efforts.
President Nelson then gave a warning: “The adversary does not want you to understand the covenant you made at baptism or the profound endowment of knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple—the house of the Lord. And Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God’s power and with His angels having ‘charge over’ you [Doctrine and Covenants 109:22].”3
Along the same lines, President Nelson also taught:
“Each one of us needs the ongoing spiritual strengthening and tutoring that is possible only in the house of the Lord. …
“… The assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. … If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy house—then keep that appointment with exactness.”4
President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, taught that “some of the most important temple and family history work is done at home.” He suggested that this at-home work includes searching our family lines; keeping journals; gathering pictures and other data; and writing family histories and sharing them with our children.5 Other at-home work could include pondering our covenants, seeking to understand them better, and improving how we keep them.6
Gathering Israel before the Second Coming
I feel more urgency about this work as well. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that we should “gather the Lord’s covenant people” and that it “must occur in some substantial measure before the Lord comes again.”7
In the same conference, Elder Kim B. Clark, then serving as a member of the Seventy, gave a second witness of this teaching: “We have an inspiring charge from the Lord … [to] accelerate the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil … and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”8
The gathering of Israel has been mentioned in general conference numerous times in the last few years. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Matthew 18:16). I would say the word regarding the gathering of Israel has been established.
So now we know. The word has been established. As President Nelson taught, “This is the mission for which [we] were sent to earth.”9 We are here to help gather Israel and prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As described in the parable of the olive tree, we can labor with the Lord in His vineyard to help gather Israel.
Laboring with the Lord
The parable of the olive trees in Jacob 5 describes the Master’s concerns and anguish in trying to care for the house of Israel. Near the end “the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant … and brought other servants; and they were few.
“And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time … ; for the end is nigh” (Jacob 5:70–71; emphasis added).
This is our charge: to labor with the Lord. We are His servants. We are laboring in His vineyard. We are few in number, but apparently, as that relative handful of people, we are enough.
We have been tasked with gathering God’s children. We have been given a noble birthright. We have been trusted to find our brothers and sisters. We are preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Savior by gathering His children on both sides of the veil.
My heart has turned to my fathers, my priorities have shifted, and the peace I always sought has been found. It’s in the temple. I never really understood that—until now.
The author lives in Idaho.